The celebration is part fundraiser and part announcement in support of the company’s latest projects.

Proceeds will be used for festival submission fees for two new HExTC Films, “16 Minutes” and “Black N Blue,” as well as the continued development for “West Of The City,” the number one ranked drama on Amazon’s development platform. The production’s concept trailer can be viewed at https://studios.amazon.com/projects/127515).

The funds will also support HExTC’s acclaimed “Where Theater Starts” reading series that fosters and develops new plays and playwrights.

The celebration will offer tapas, libations, lively music, a bit of dancing and picture taking inside the police museum’s jail cell. Tickets are $25 and include two beverage tickets.

The Hudson Exploited Theater Company is a nonprofit arts group dedicated to producing thought provoking theater, film and television, expanding the notion of “what is American” by featuring stories that reflect the variety of experiences, backgrounds, races, and cultures that make up the American landscape.

HExTC offers artists and craftspeople the opportunity to develop, refine and showcase their talent, creativity and skill sets, all while presenting works that challenge, educate and reflect the world as seen through the eyes of immigrants and first generation Americans.

With its artistic roots in Union City, HExTC will host its celebration at The William V. Cultural Center with a special thanks to the city of Union City, Mayor Brian P. Stack, Commissioner Lucio Fernandez and the rest of the Union City commissioners for their support.

HExTC was founded in 1990 as the Hudson Exploited Theater Company. Originally organized as an artist collective while its members were still in high school, the company produced a number of plays throughout the early 1990s to local acclaim.

After graduating from college, founding members Arian Blanco and Jim Thalman reconnected in 1999 for an off-Broadway production of John Steinbeck’s “Of Mice and Men.” Building on the strength of that project, HExTC continued to evolve and became a fully incorporated New Jersey based, 501(c)3 nonprofit in January 2003.

From 2002-2010, HExTC was the resident professional theater company at the historic Park Performing Arts Center in Union City, New Jersey. In 2007 Arian Blanco and Jim Thalman executive produced the film short “The Secret Under The Rose” which won four Best Picture Awards on the International Film Festival Circuit and was subsequently distributed via O'uat Media to the US & EU cable television markets, ultimately reaching a viewership 1.7 million homes.

Based on the success of that film, HExTC began to expand its programming to develop and produce film, television and multimedia projects. Their second media collaboration “The Poker Lesson” won four Best Picture Awards, a Cinematography Award and an Audience Choice Award on the International Film Festival Circuit and is being distributed via INDIEFLIX.Com.

HExTC is also in the early stages of post production on “Black N Blue,” a film dealing with post traumatic stress, and the television series “West of the City,” a political thriller set in the world of New Jersey machinepolitics currently streaming on the Amazon Platform and trending No. 1 one with 68,000 mentions on Social Media. Available at https://studios.amazon.com/projects/127515?ref_tag=twitter%20#Project , the film stars many recognizable faces from hit shows such as “The Sopranos,” “Weeds,” “Luke Cage,” “Gotham,” and “Vinyl.”

HExTC is in the early stages of development on the film “Mass” dealing with the over medication of children, gun control and school shootings.

HExTC’s work has been featured on NBC’s “Today Show,” Univision, The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Boston Globe, The Sunday Star Ledger, and El Diario. In addition to its current film and media productions, HExTC continues to produce its acclaimed Where Theater Starts Reading Series.